Birding from the Birdmobile

This morning we tried out birding from our new to us Free Spirit made by Leisure Travel Vans.  We stopped at Finley National Wildlife Refuge south of Corvallis.  Because they do not allow dogs on the Refuge we were confined to the inside of our van and we birded as we drove down the refuge road.  We got to see a fair number of birds as Jeanette drove and I sat on the passenger side and tried identifing, counting and photographing. This is the view of my birding office.  As I was deeply engrosed in looking for birds and munching on crackers I got to thinking about the no dog situation.  The signs say in order to protect the wild life no dogs are allowed. OK, but then why are humans allowed to kill the protected wildlife? It struck me as kind of a strange situation. Our local newpaper recently had an article pointing out jogging was not allowed on the National Wildlife Refuges in in the Willamette Valley because it could tramatize the birds.  But I guess if you show up with your shotgun you could shoot and kill some of these birds that have been protected from the dangers of dogs and joggers.